1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector for connecting a plurality of first contacts on a first support to a plurality of second contacts on a second support.
2. Description of the Related Art
At present, different types of pin-circuit connectors in plastic cases are used in order to connect a plurality of contacts on a first circuit part to a plurality of contacts on a second circuit part. Such traditional types of connectors are not flexible. In addition, the connection force and the disconnection force in the case of a large number of pins which have to be connected becomes too large.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a connector arrangement and a circuit part permitting for connection and disconnection with reduced force involved.
The present invention is a connector arrangement having:
first conductor teeth on a first support;
second conductor teeth on a second support;
means for electrically and mechanically connecting and disconnecting respective first conductor teeth on a first support to respective second conductor teeth on the second support in the manner of a zipper.
The present invention further provides a circuit part having:
a support; and
conductor teeth provided on the support wherein the conductor teeth are designed to be electrically and mechanically connected to respective conductor teeth provided on another support in the manner of a zipper.
The present invention is based on the finding that the zipper technique, well-known from a plurality of fields of application, closing for example, can be utilized to provide connection between a plurality of contacts or pins of circuit parts such as printed circuit boards, flexible printed circuit boards and ribbon cables.
According to the invention, the contacts or pins are designed as conductor teeth or contact teeth which can have the shape of traditional zipper teeth. Thus, a conventional zipper slider can be used for closing the zipper, i.e. causing the mechanical and electrical connections between the teeth on the first and second support.
In preferred embodiments of the present invention, the conductor teeth, i.e. the contact teeth, are separated by electrically insulating teeth, for example plastic teeth, such that, electrically insulated from each other, a plurality of electrical connections between conductor teeth can be achieved. Moreover, preferably the conductor teeth and the insulating teeth are provided with a spring mechanism in order to improve the electrical contact between adjacent teeth when connected.
The present invention provides a new type of a connector by which a plurality of pins in the form of conductor teeth can be connected and disconnected with reduced force when compared to traditional connectors. Thus, according to the invention, large connection/disconnection forces occurring in traditional kinds of connectors having a large number of pins (for example more than 100), which can cause a damage to the connector or the device having the connector do not occur according to the invention.
Moreover, in normal connectors additional details are needed to exclude wrong connections such as short circuiting between pins which shall not be connected, which are not required according to the invention when conductor teeth are separated by insulating teeth. Moreover, contrary to the most traditional connector types, the connector according to the invention is elastic.